Howard Saunders

For Howard Saunders, guiding is not so much a job as a vocation: a sense of duty to share the enriching and eye-opening experiences that Africa does better than anywhere. After 20 years of leading some of the continent’s most talked-about safaris, Howard knows that these personal journeys not only offer visitors a stirring celebration of life, but an uplifting revelation about their own lives – and a renewed commitment to living them well.

As a partner in one of Africa’s oldest safari companies, The Original, Ker & Downey Safaris, Howard has developed a deep insight into the ‘hidden Africa’ rarely witnessed by today’s high-end travelers. Using customized vehicles and surprisingly luxurious mobile camps, he takes his guests to destinations little explored since the intrepid hunting safaris of the early 20th century.

In Uganda, for example, his guests can experience the ultimate poignancy of a face-to-face meeting with a silverback gorilla, and then travel to the frontier wilderness of Kidepo National Park, or camp beside the legend-making Murchison Falls: where Winston Churchill boated, Ernest Hemingway survived a plane crash, and Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn fell in on-screen love.